Sharewatch: BSkyB Shares Fall Ahead Of FreeSat Launch
Satellite giant BSkyB suffered a dip in share price yesterday, losing 2.12% to close at 495źp ahead of the launch of its free to air satellite service today.
The company’s package of more than 200 television and radio channels is an attempt to compete with the BBC-backed Freeview service, but has been criticised by some analysts, claiming it will confuse viewers and detract from Sky’s core subscriber-building business model.
Elsewhere in broadcasting, ITV suffered a downturn of 1.15% to close at 107žp. The company recently announced the launch of extended interactive services, bringing always on games, betting services and entertainment content to viewers using Sky Digital (see ITV Boosts Interactive To Run Services Non-Stop).
In radio, SMG fell by 1.12% to close at 110žp yesterday amid a disappointing day’s trading for media stocks. Yesterday saw the company announce a promotional push for its Virgin radio station, designed to boost the profile of its Pete and Geoff Breakfast Show to increase its listening share (see Virgin Launches Campaign To Boost Breakfast Share).
The FTSE 100 dipped yesterday, losing 38.8 points to close at 4,616.4. The FTSE 250 also suffered, dropping 45.1 points to close at 6,244.6.
The closing prices of media company shares on Wednesday were:
